Soundgarden: An Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chrome_Head, Jun 28, 2020.

  1. m_y_t_h

    m_y_t_h Forum Resident

    Location:
    Quebeck, Tennessee
    I love "Hunted Down" so much.

    Pearl Jam just released a cover with Stone on vocals. They do a pretty nice job.

     
  2. CassetteDek

    CassetteDek social distancing since 1979

    Location:
    Chicago
    I absolutely adore them. I got into them in ‘94 and have literally never stopped listening to them. They are always bubbling up in my listening rotation more often than pretty much anyone. Particularly Superunknown, Badmotorfinger and Upside. Amazingly talented band, incredibly unique songwriting voice. Speaking of voices....
     
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  3. CassetteDek

    CassetteDek social distancing since 1979

    Location:
    Chicago
    Saw them live in ‘96, My third concert ever at 16. Caught Chris solo 3 times, (‘00, ‘07, ‘16). Completely different show each time, brilliant. Caught the reunion tour in ‘13. Even got a Temple of the Dog snippet at PJ20 with Chris.
     
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  4. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    One of my all time favs since 1992 when I got Badmotorfinger when I was 12. Ten and Badmotorfinger were my first ever CD purchases.

    That year Much Music frequently aired this GNR Live in Rio and Soundgarden was the opening band. That’s how I first saw discovered them.

    I’m so pissed I was too young to have gone to the 92 and 94 Lolopalooza with them.
     
  5. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Could you not have gone to Lolla in '96 when you were 16?

    As mentioned upthread, that was my first concert, me a skinny kid of 16. Very rowdy crowd, people crowd surfing / landing on my head, and it seemed like oceans of beer got spilled on me. My friend and I basically came for Soundgarden, and when Metallica played afterward, we just walked around the grounds and mostly ignored them. And Soundgarden certainly didn't disappoint (I'd have to look but their set was heavy on Upside / Superunknown).

    That was a great year, Screaming Trees also played (but I didn't know their stuff then, and it mostly went over my head; Josh Homme was playing second guitar with them live back then), Violent Femmes, and Ramones as well.
     
  6. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Early Ben Shepherd looked like Lyle Lovett. Now he looks like a blown up Tom Sizemore.
     
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  7. HotelYorba101

    HotelYorba101 Senior Member

    Location:
    California
    They were like the John Paul Jones/John Bonham of the Seattle music scene for sure. I had that feeling especially when I heard the bass/drums into on Slaves & Bulldozers
     
  8. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I actually have a lot to add to this thread, as I love Soundgarden, but I lack the energy right now. I will say, I listened to a podcast somewhat recently with Matt Cameron being interviewed and he’s a very well spoken, multi-faceted guy. I was very impressed with him.
     
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  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I really enjoy Soundgarden.
    Badmotorfinger is among my favourite albums
     
  10. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Man, the shift in the band's sound was tangible when Shepherd came along. The bass is absolutely pulverizing on Badmotorfinger in the best way. Nothing against Hiro Y, who was also awesome, but Shepherd was like the missing piece of their sound. And he wrote some interesting and quirky songs as well.

    How long has Cameron been going now after joining up with Pearl Jam, 30+ years? Dude is a rock vet if there ever was one. And he has his Wellwater Conspiracy albums, and a solo record from like 2017 that's pretty good!

    All that he's seen and done, I'm sure Cameron could write a book.
     
  11. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I was still too scared in 1996 to go to concerts and Loloploozo was a long drive away my parents would have had to drive. My first concert was Megadeth in 1995 and it too scary for me. Saw The Jesus Lizard in 1997 with a fake ID and that still too scary. Wasn’t comfortable to see metal shows until 1998. That’s why I’m mad cause my friends and I shouldn’t have been such wimps and missed all our favorite bands.
     
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  12. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    It was interesting that they released a live in the studio version of Fell On Black Days for the video and radio single of that song. I always preferred that version over the album version. I was a long time lister of KISW in Seattle and this is the version they would play. This is pre-internet times and it must have been confusing for fans why it sounded different.
     
  13. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    The band just had material like this, sitting unused, that they tossed onto stuff like The Singles soundtrack in '92:

     
  14. mr. faded glory

    mr. faded glory Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City USA
    I got into them early through my punk rock friends and still celebrate their whole catalog. I got to see them play several times throughout the years. For me there was always a feeling that I was lucky to be able to see them. I felt as though I would be in the presence of greatness and really didn't deserve to be. The last time I saw them was May 14th 2017. It was without a doubt the best I had ever heard them. Texted a friend who was also at the show and who I had seen them with before from the parking lot. He agreed it was their best show by far that we had seen. I was so excited to see what would come next as far as new music. 4 days later I turned on the morning news from bed as I always do and Chris's passing was the very first thing we heard. It affected me.
     
  15. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    I consider Karaoke, Cold Bitch, Toy Box, Kyle Petty Son Of Richard, Heretic and HIV Baby as some of the band's best songs in their catalog and all of them are b-sides, and I'm not even mentioning the amazing live versions of songs like Beyond The Wheel, Kickstand, Jesus Christ Pose, Fell On Black Days and stuff from the Louder Than Live promo CD that were also released as b-sides, as well as some covers (Show Me, Into The Void, Stray Cat Blues) are also solid material. Sure there are some nonsensical stuff and remix as b-sides but it's mostly solid stuff.
    Other stuff that appears on compilations like Birth Ritual, Blind Dogs, Sub Pop Rock City and the New Damage version featuring Brian May is something I come back to frequently as well.
     
  16. CassetteDek

    CassetteDek social distancing since 1979

    Location:
    Chicago
    One of my favorite live recordings of them was in January ‘95 in Eddie Vedder’s house. Pearl Jam put on a radio broadcast called Self Pollution Radio, and any station could pick it up live and air it. My station in East Lansing carried it, and I taped it. One of my most cherished cassettes for years. Mad Season played stuff from the forthcoming Above, and Mudhoney played stuff from My Brother the Cow. Of course Pearl Jam played a bunch from Vitalogy. Every set was killer with just raw, garage like sound.

    Soundgarden was between records, so they played some unreleased stuff, including Blind Dogs, Kyle Petty son of Richard, No Attention and the alternate version of Fell on Black Days (known as Black Days III now). Other than the lyrics to the chorus, it bears no resemblance to Fell on Black Days. It’s a totally different song. There’s a studio version on Echo of Miles, but to me this Self Pollution version is the definitive version. Apparently video footage emerged at some point (see below). The footage mostly captures Matt, but nothing wrong with that!


     
  17. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I remember that radio program well, I also taped it. So cool to hear the early Mad Season songs. If I’m not mistaken, that’s also where Dave Grohl debuted the early Foo Fighters stuff as well.
     
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  18. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Oh dear. My favorite band is The Cure so I should know better than to not check out the b-sides of my favorite bands but I have to confess I never have with Soundgarden. Where is the best place to find them? Are they collected anywhere? Or just have to snag the singles?
     
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  19. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    The Echo Of Miles box set from 2014 collects a majority of them, if not all of them:

    Soundgarden - Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2020
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  20. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Yes, check out Echoes of Miles box set, it has a great deal of b-sides, covers and appearances on other albums. If you want a couple of songs to start with check out the ones I mentioned above: Karaoke, Cold Bitch, Toy Box, Kyle Petty Son Of Richard, Heretic and HIV Baby. Non-album songs you need to check out are Bleed Together, Birth Ritual, Blind Dogs, Sub Pop Rock City and the New Damage version featuring Brian May.
    Live performances that appear on b-sides you have to listen to are Beyond The Wheel, Kickstand, Jesus Christ Pose, Fell On Black Days and My Wave. Excellent covers worth checking out are Big Bottom / Earache My Eye (live Spinal Tap / Cheech & Chong cover) Into the Void (Sealth), Stray Cat Blues and I Can't Give You anything. You're good to go from there!
     
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  21. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
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  22. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Thanks for the detailed response. I'm stoked to have this to look forward to!
     
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  23. Soundslave

    Soundslave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tomsk,Russia
    Well, I can say that Soundgarden became my favorite band from "90's alternative rock" era.
    It all started with Audioslave (back in 2006-2007), which I discovered after Rage Against the Machine and as the time went I started to appreciate Audioslave live covers on SG songs (especially Loud Love from Sessions at AOL 2005). While that performance was a bit shaky in terms of Chris' vocals, I still really cherish that take. A bit later I heard Outshined, acoustic version of Black Hole Sun and Rusty Cage (Audioslave live versions), so in the end I decided to go for SG albums. At first time I didn't like them, but I guess a year and a half later I started to appreciate some of their hits from albums.
    As the time went on, I developed a very addictive relationship with Badmotorfinger and (to a lesser extent) Superunknown (around 2016).
    Metallica did a tribute song for Chris in a form of a Head Injury cover and I quite liked it. Though, I should say that as with Nirvana, I don't really like the early, pre-Badmotorfinger, stuff.
    Down on the Upside felt kinda... bland to me after Superunknown and only recently I decided to give King Animal a chance. While it doesn't have that metal character I really like on Badmotorfinger, it still has some nice stuff. Although I still think their best work is on BMF.

    Oh, since I'm still is a big Guitar Hero fan, I think the band did an outstanding job with Black Rain in 2010 (as I discovered later, that song was originally a demo leftover from BMF sessions so it was no wonder to me that I liked it so much :)).

    As for compilations - did anyone mention Telephantasm? It has some neat rare tracks and mixes as well.

    P.S. btw, some might think my nickname is a cross between Soundgarden and Audioslave, but in fact I was not a fan of Soundgarden at the time and just used "Sound" as a synonym :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2020
  24. sans_matty

    sans_matty Forum Resident

    Location:
    california, usa
    Jesus Christ Pose is one of the greatest songs ever to be released. End thread.
     
  25. kannibal

    kannibal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Looks like the Apple Music version is missing a few songs. May be a rights issue, but I know a couple of them have been missing for a long time.

    Huge fan, here. And that B-side linked in the first post is one of my favorite Soundgarden songs. That song is very different than the direction the went on Badmotorfinger. Chris’ vocals on the verses are unmatched, to me.
     
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